To ride into the twilight
by 21Hethery21
Summary: The pain was overwhelming, fire was oh so consuming, I could feel the flames licking my face. I tried to scream for some help but there was no use, the fire was inside me, inside my heart.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Hethery... Hethery!" whispered Jasmin.

"Hmm?" I open my eyes to see Jasmin leaning over me.

"Hey, beautiful wake up, the ship is docking; we got to get out before they catch us down here." I couldn't see light coming from the top of the trap door that leads to the deck.

"Do you have any idea on what time it is?" I asked.

"No idea, midnight? Somewhere around there."

It was 1863 in late November and my sister, Jasmin and I where on a ship to the United States of America. We were on the boat for a few weeks surviving only on potatoes and beats and couple of fish because that all they had on this ship. Jasmin says that it was a clipper ship and that we'd be in America in no time. I never saw a difference in the ship as in other ships at the dock in whales, maybe a bit thinner but that's it. So she didn't worry about bringing much on to the ship with us since the ship was shipping vegetable goods. Just a couple of bags of fresh water and a few fish on ice, I hate fish.

"That's good so they won't see us jumping." Once the anchor was dropped, Jasmin pushed the little window open that lead to the cold water, she threw her sheep skin bag out the window and climbed up and slid out the window. I quickly threw my sheep skin bag out the window and hopped up and push my hips through the window with a little difficulty getting them through.

Splash! The cold water made goose bumps all over my body. I surfaced and started swimming to the dock with Jasmin and hid under it until it was clear to climb up. Once we heard no more foot steps or talking we climbed up and start to look for a dry place to stay. We wrung out our hair and started walking down the cobble road to find a little saloon that has a little inn at the top. Perfect. We walked into the semi-empty saloon and walk up to the bartender.

"Who do we talk to about renting a room?" ask Jasmin,

"That would be me, would you like a room for the night?" asked the bartender.

"Please?" Jasmin pleaded. The bartender walked out from behind the bar with a set of keys, he looked at Jasmin and me with a sceptical look.

"How old are you two?" he asked.

"I'm 20 and my sister is 19." she lied, but we could get away with it because we didn't look 18 and 17. He still didn't look completely convinced. He started walking toward the staircase that leaded to the rooms and motioned us to follow along with his hand.

He stopped at a door that number 7 on it.

"What kind of accent is that of yours? Where you from?" the bartender asked as he shoved one of the keys into the key hole.

"Romanian, we're from Romania." replied Jasmin.

"Romania eh? Huh, where did you learn English so well?" I could see Jasmin's eyes narrowing meaning that she was getting annoyed.

"We lived in whales for a year."

"Whales eh? Well my grandparents were from whales!" Jasmin smiled half halfheartedly.

Once Jasmin gave him $5 of America money for the night, which she got from an American man that was visiting whales so they traded money. She closed the door on the bartender and let out a long sigh. I looked around the little room and saw two little beds, end tables on each side with oil lamps and a dresser with a large mirror hanging on the wall.

I sat on the bed and opened up my bag to see if any of my belonging got wet, as always, everything was dry, no water ever got through my trusty sheep skin bag. I got up and placed my bag on the dresser and took out my hair brush to brush all the knots out of my hair. I looked into the mirror and saw a girl who had bags under big, green eyes. Her skin was pale and her cheeks bones were more promante than usual. Her hair was a dull blond color that it shouldn't be and... Just hanging there. "Goodness, I need sleep and a bath... and some real food would be nice too." I said as I realized the girl staring at me was me. My stomach growled.

I look at Jasmin in the mirror to see her on the bed, passed out. I smile to myself and walk up to her and take off her boots and put the blanket over her, but she was still in wet clothes, she can't sleep in damp clothes or she'll get a cold, so I took the blanket back off of her and pulled her upwards,

"Hmm, leave me alone..." she groaned at me.

"Jazz, you need to get out of your wet clothes! You're going to get a cold!" she just groaned in protest. I slipped off her jacket and unbuttoned her shirt, she collapsed on the pillow again and I unbutton her trousers and slide them off with her stockings.

I put the blanket back on her and felt more exhausted now even more than I did before, but I wanted to take a bath first before I passed out on the bed like Jasmin did. I opened the bath room door right besides Jasmin's bed a walk in to see a toilet, a sink and a large bathtub. I turn on the bath water to a nice hot temperature and strip down. Waiting for the tub to fill I look at the toilet and then realized how bad I need to use it. Once I finish with the toilet I hop into the hot bath water and go into a complete relaxing mode.

"Aaaaahhhhhh..." I sighed.

I laid there until the water was luke warm and my fingers were pruning. I got out and dried myself off with the towels that they provided. I stepped out into the room and crawled under the covers. I look through the window to see a whole bunch of lights from other houses or saloons and to see a whole bunch of stars out in the night sky. I turn around to face the wall and close my eyes.

end of chapter one


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I woke up to the sun in my face; I look around to see Jasmin's bed empty. I get out of bed and look into the bathroom to see if Jazz was in there, I open the door to find it empty. Well where is she?, I decide to get dressed and go looking for her. I open my bag to get a pair of trousers, a plaid shirt and stockings and put them on.

Once I unfolded my trousers a piece of paper fly's out of them. I pick the piece of paper to see it is a photograph of my parents, Jasmin and I out in the garden back in Romania, you could hardly see us in the photograph because of the awful quality but I could still make out my parents. Mother, and her pettiness and her white hair in the picture which was actually a rich blond like mine. Father, with his tall, lankiness and grey hair which was actually burgundy like Jasmin's. Jasmin was a lot like father and I was a lot like mother, Jasmin was tall, thin but tone. She had a heart shaped, mature but beautiful face. Her eyes were like fathers but had mother's eye color, light blue just like the morning sky. Her hair was long a hit her lower back. I was a little shorter than mother but just as petite and curvy, my face was a little rounder in the picture because I was 13 and Jasmin was 14. But my face has shaped into a perfect oval shape just like mothers. But I did have my father's large green eyes. Sometimes when I looked deep into my eyes, all I could see is him. But I tried not thinking about that too much.

I swallow back the sadness and put the picture back into my bag and finish getting dressed. I put my boots and jacket on and walk out the door. Once I close the door my stomach starts growling at me again. I walk downstairs and out of the saloon into the cold, fresh air, I take a deep breath. You could tell that it was days away from snowing. I turned left to walk uphill to find a bakery or something. As I walk past a couple of shops, I walk by a little bakery shop and see Jasmin, sitting down right by the window with tea in her hands and what looks like her starting to nod off. I stop and look at her in the window.

I snickered to myself and walk into the bakery and sit opposite from here.

"Jasmin..." I whispered.

"Hm, you found me." she said with her eyes still closed.

"You had a bath?" I said as I look at her hair and hands, they were both soft and clean looking.

"Yeah, I did. I've been up since dawn, looking for places that we can buy a couple of horses for cheap." a lady came up to us and asked if I wanted anything,

"Um, tea and a cinnamon bun, please." the lady looked at me and my clothing but didn't look surprised.

"Just because we don't wear a dress doesn't mean we're going to cause trouble." Jasmin whispered under her breath as the lady walked away.

"Anyways, I walked around the town for awhile and found that we're on an island of north Boston, Massachusetts. I asked a man how long it would take to get to the outskirts of Massachusetts, he said a couple of miles but it wouldn't take long on horses. The same man was selling horses for cheap, $40 American for two, which sounds good to me. I only have a couple hundred with us, which should help us survive for a while. He also included the saddle and more. I said I'd be back later, I wanted to talk to you first before I did or bought anything,"

The lady came back with my tea and cinnamon bun and I gave her 10 cents. The lady gave Jasmin and me dirty look.

"Hey, is this the way you treat your customers? If so, I don't think we'll be coming back and might put a bad word around the town!" Jasmin said. The lady apologized and back away.

"Mother Mary." Jasmin muddred under her breath. I finished my bun and tea and my walk outside and back to the saloon and pack up our stuff to hit the road.

Jasmin and I walked to the town ranch to get the horses.

"Hey! You came back!" yelled a young man that could have been the age of 14 or 15. He walked up to us and said

"Dad is just in the back getting them ready for you." he said to Jasmin. The boy looked at me and just stared at me. Ummm...

"Uh... hi" he said to me.

"Hello." I smiled. A man came out of the small stable from the back. He looked like to be in is mid 40's. "Here you go ma'am."

"Those are prefect Smith! _Va Multumesc! _Thank you!" the horses were two black beauties, one a little smaller than the other. The boy was still staring at me. Although he was taller than me he was definitely too young to me, but he was cute. Baby faced freckles, big dark blue eyes, and dirty blond hair.

"Anything for you too. Now, the saddle has many pockets to keep important things, come here and I'll show you." Jasmin went over to smith.

"My name is Nicolas." he said as he grabbed my hand to kiss it.

"What is your ma'am?"

"Quite the charmer aren't you? Hethery."

Jasmin paid smith." Do you have a couple of rifles I can buy off you Smith?"

"Of course." Smith said as he runs to there house. I walk up to Jasmin and the horses.

"I guess the smaller one is mine?" I asked.

"Yes, and their brother and sister. And I already named them too." said Jazz.

"You named them with out me?"

"I named them Helen and Robert. I knew that you'd like It." responded Jazz.

"Oh, yeah. Actually I love it." I smiled

"Mother and Father would've liked to hear that."

"Haha, Mother would've token it as an insult!" Jazz said as she climbed Robert.

"I could hear her now "'you named a horse after me? What are you saying? I look like a horse?'" Jazz and I laughed together. I went up to Helen and pet her long nose.

"Father would've loved it though." I said.

Smith came out of the house with two rifles.

"Here you go girls, you're going to have to go to the shop a couple of blocks form here to get shells but that's the best we can do for you two." Smith handed both of them to Jasmin as I climbed on my horse, Helen.

"Thanks Smith, We really appreciate it." Jasmin gave him $20 for the rifles. She past one to me.

"You girls be save now, ya hear?" said Smith

"We'll do our best!" said Jasmin has she galloped off with Robert. I put my cowboy hat on and put my rifle in the side pocket and say thanks to Smith and nod and smile to Nicolas and kick Helen on the side to get her galloping.

Jazz was ahead of me, in front of a shop and was getting off Robert. I caught up to her and got off Helen.

"Okay, you stay here with the horses and I'll get the shells." Jazz went into the shop and I got back on Helen and looked into the setting sun. It was almost dusk. We would probably get to the end of town and get into the country and settling there for the night. I checked Jazz's bag to see if she still had our sleeping mats. Ok all good all we need is shells now and we can continue our journey.

Jasmin came out of the store with shells, a couple small water canteens, and a map.

"I think that's It." she said as put the map and her canteen in the side pocket. She hopped up on Robert again and past me my canteen.

"The store keeper told us to keep on going down this road and eventually we will find ourselves in the outskirts of town."

"Are you ready for the adventure of a life time?" Jazz gave me big smile.

"You know it!" I said as I kicked Helen on the side and she galloped off down the road with Jasmin right behind me.

end of chapter 2


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

10 months have gone by and its mid August, We are in Arkansas and about to go into Republic of Texas. We met an Indian tribe on the way down and we got friendly with them and they gave us some bison hide which kept us warm through the winter months, which we found out that we desperately needed. We also met some real cowboys that were awfully handsome but were afraid of our masculinity. But Jasmin was right about it being the adventure of a life time. In these 10 months Jasmin and I have both had our birthdays's and were 19 and 18 now. The civil war is still going on and we've almost stumbled on some battles. If we were setting up camp and all the sudden we here open fire, we'll find out where the gun shots were coming from and re-pack and travel the opposite way. A week after we left we were on the outskirts of Pennsylvania and we were sleeping and there was open fire less than 40 feet away. We got up, packed and rode in the opposite direction. Although we were beat, we didn't want them coming in contact with us. But besides having to uprooting our camp and move somewhere else, we've had a pretty good time trying to find our place in America.

I was brushing Helen's mane when Jazz came from under her blanket with sleep in her eyes.

"How long have you been up for?" she yawned.

"An hour or so, I decided to pack up a little already so we can see some Mexicans, I want to try Mexican food." I said as my stomach growled.

"I cooked some eggs of you, eat up I want to get going."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll take my own time thank very much," she protested under her breath. I smiled to myself and went to my area to continue packing.

I stuffed my bedding into one of the pockets of Helen's saddle and took my cowboy hat off of her head and put it on mine. I hop up on her to see Jasmin putting out the fire with a bucket of water. She tied the bucket to Robert's saddle and hopped on and looked at me.

"Are you ready to go into Texas?" she asked me with a smile on her face. She lightly kicked Robert on

His side to get him to trot.

"More than ready, I heard Mexican food is like nothing I've ever tasted." I kicked Helen lightly on the side to get her to trot also.

"Yeah, whatever, but I don't think were going to find much Mexican's in Texas, I heard they're all clearing out into Mexico." said Jasmin as she took a sip out of her canteen.

"But that's part of the adventure isn't it?" I smiled at her. "If there are no Mexicans in Texas then we'll just travel down to Mexico and then go all the way down to South America."

"I don't know Hethery, that's a whole different environment. The rain forest?" she looked at me in question.

I just looked at her.

"I mean I'm all up for it but I'm just thinking about you that's all." She said quickly and looked away.

"Jazz, its okay if you want to settle down in America. America is a great place"- Jazz cut me off.

"NO I want to go, it sounds different. Fun, but different. I'm just a little worried about you."

"You don't have to be! I got you."

She just smiled and kept looking forward.

I love Jazz with all my heart but I know that she thinks she disobeying mother and father (mostly mother) wishes for taking me away from Romania to go travel the world instead of settling down and having a family but this makes us truly happy. Well, happier when we were in Romania. And I think mother and father would've understood that. Besides we'll settle down eventually with a couple of Americans since we both find them more handsome than any others.

But there's one thing I know that will get her mind off things, and it makes me feel alive too.

I tie my cowboy hat tight round my neck, tight.

"EEEAAAHHHH!" I yell as I kick Helen hard on her side and she gallops towards Texas.

A few seconds later Jazz comes up besides me, although I had a head start, Robert's legs are longer than Helen's.

I look at Jazz's face to face a big smile on her face. She looks at me and starts laughing.

With us both laughing at particularly nothing, we ride to Texas with no worries.

end of chapter 3


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I take off Helen's saddle to wipe the sweat off from her back as she takes large gulps of water from a stream that we settle camp by. We were in thick woodland in Texas (which was really hard to find) because Jazz never liked to set camp in the wide open. 'Survival 101' she'd always say to me.

Robert was right beside Helen.

"So I was thinking on the way south, we could stop at the Gulf of Mexico, just to see. I heard from a Mexican that it's really beautiful this time of year." Said jazz's voice from behind Helen. I'm only 5''4' so I couldn't quite see over Helen.

"Yeah last time I saw the ocean was almost a year ago, so yeah let's do that." I smiled.

"Alright then, next stop, the gulf of Mexico!" she said has she pulled her hatchet out of her pocket of Robert's saddle.

"I'm going to go and cut up some fire wood, you stay here and set up camp." Said Jazz as she walked towards the bush.

When she disappeared into the thick woodland, I thought I could start up the fire. I went to get some twigs and bark to start with. When I had decided that I had enough kindling to start the fire, I started to walk back to the camp site, only to find more bush and no tent or horses.

_Oops. _I thought as I saw that I was lost. I didn't want to walk anywhere because I just might drift farther away. I was never the greatest tracker, well, I wasn't one at all. I called out for Jazz to find out that she couldn't hear me or she wasn't back yet. _Crap!_

I was looking around to see if I could remember the way I came from when I heard a roar of gunfire and canons. When I looked to see where the explosion came from, there was a break in the trees and what look like to be a meadow. I was very wrong.

It was a very large field and a battle was taking its place there. This is the first time saw the Confederate and the Union Armies in actual battle, I've only heard never seen. There was a stone wall and a long ditch behind it. There saw many Confederate soldiers behind the stone wall shooting at the Union army. And some of the soldiers were dead in the ditch.

I was about to run for it when bullets came flying at the soldiers and me. All the sudden I was smash back into the forest and crashed into the ground and hit my head on a rock, _hard_. I was in such of a daze I couldn't see what hit me, and I couldn't hear well either. Then I got tossed again and fell on a rock on the edge of the bush. Once I fell off the rock, I felt the incredible sting of something entering my skin on my outer thigh; it must have been a bullet. I screamed out in pain. A man from the battle that looked like a Major saw that I was shot and hurt, I was very surprised when he came over to help me and to see if I was still alive. He had an expression that I didn't know what to make of when he saw my wound. After seeing his face my outer thigh started to burn where I got hit, I thought that the bullet that hit me was still hot inside my skin. It was getting hotter and hotter until it was getting uncomfortable; I looked at my thigh to see if it just hit the surface so I could take the bullet out of my skin. When I looked at my thigh I saw that it wasn't a bullet wound. There were teeth marks embedded deep into my skin where the incredible burn was coming from and began to spread throughout my leg.

I went to look at the man to see if he was as confused and scared as I was, but when I went to look at him he was gone. I looked around to see where he had run off to. I found him back at the stone wall about ten feet away from where I was lying wounded, reaching for an Infield rifle. When he put two bullets in the rifle he gave me a look as if I was a monster and he had to destroy me. He came towards me with the rifle in his hands. Just as I realized why the man was coming to towards me with a rifle. Gun shots were made and hit the man. The man fell and died shortly after.

The burning from my leg was spreading up towards my chest slowly, the bite becoming scorching hot. Trying not to cry out, I new that if I stayed here I would likely be found. As much as I could I pulled myself towards the backwoods to find camp and wash out my wound. When I couldn't possibly go any farther I clasped, the burning got worse and was blinding. I was lying there on the ground waiting for it to go away, when I felt the pulse behind the burn raging now into my chest and realized that my heart had been consumed in flames, the fire blazed hotter and I screamed. I looked around to see if there was anybody near I could ask to kill me now. But I crawled too far into the backwoods. I called for Jasmin, screaming her name. Hopefully she will find me and she would kill me before I have to live any longer in this pain. The endless fire burned on.

After all the screaming, Jasmin found me withered in pain on the ground. I couldn't understand what Jasmin was asking me and I could hardly see her because it was torture to focused on anything else but this impossible pain, but I could tell it was her voice.

"What's happening!" she screamed as she Neal's besides me, I couldn't answer but tell her I wanted to die. Let me die, let me die, please.

All I could hear is Jasmin crying out for help and me pleading for sweet, sweet death to take me. Then Jasmin's hands were gone from under my head and let my head fall to the ground. I looked at Jasmin to see that she wasn't beside me crying for help anymore. She was tossed three feet away from me with a man leaning over her kissing her neck. When he was done he stood up and looked at me. I asked him to kill me,

"Now why could I want to kill something I'm creating?" He was very pale and very beautiful; he had beautiful silk black hair and crimson red eyes. I didn't understand what he talking about.

"What did you do to Jasmin?" I growled.

He leaned down towards my face,

"I'm making you a little friend." he taunted as he brushed his fingers to my face. His fingers were ice cold to my face. And in an instant he vanished. I looked at Jasmin and saw her lying there. She wasn't dead because she was breathing very loudly, but it looked like she couldn't move.

"J-" I tried to call her to see if she was okay but suddenly, impossibly, my pain doubled. The lower half of my body was suddenly on fire. I scream out Jasmin's named as the fire knitted together and my body was consumed in endless flames.

end of chapter 4


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

It could have been seconds or days, weeks or years, but, eventually, time had meaning again.

And I got stronger.

As I was laying there being charred alive, wondering when this was going to stop or if it will ever, and what was becoming of my sister and best friend, in the mist of my moaning and groaning in pain, I could hear Jasmin, or what I thought was Jasmin, screaming and cry out of some one to kill her. _Was Jasmin going though the same thing I am? _I thought while the blistering tongue of flame that licked through my veins. How could she be going through the same thing when she was leaning besides me, perfectly fine crying out for help before that beautiful pale man came?

The man.

_Who was he? What was he? He must have done this to us. But why?_

I realized that I began to develop a new capacity for experiencing the fire. I discovered that I could think around it.

My hearing got clearer and sharper, and I count the frantic, pounding beats of my heart to mark the time. I could hear the shallow breaths that gasped through my teeth. I could hear the more shallow breaths and a frantic heartbeat that came from somewhere. It must have been Jasmin.

Nineteen thousand, one hundred and five seconds later, I continued to get stronger, my thoughts clearer. When a new noise came by, I could listen.

I heard a fluttering, and then chirping. I heard something very small digging. I could hear the wind weaving though the trees and plants; I could hear nature a hundred times more than before. I could hear _everything._

Twenty-five thousand, five hundred fifty nine and a half seconds later, the pain changed.

On the good-news side of things, it started to fade from my finger tips and toes. Fading _slowly, _but at least it was doing something new. This had to be it. The pain was on its way out...

And then the bad news. The fire in my throat wasn't the same as before. I wasn't only on fire, but now parched, too. Dry as a bone. So thirsty. Burning fire, and burning thirst...

Also bad news: The fire inside my heart got hotter.

How is that _possible?_

My heartbeat, already too fast, picked up- the fire drove its rhythm to a new pace.

"Hethery?" a voice called. A clear, beautiful voice called for me. Was it my angel? Was it here to take me away?

My wrists were free, though, and my ankles, the fire was totally extinguished there.

My heart was like a jackhammer and then- _oh!_

My heart took off, beating like helicopter blades, the sound almost a single note; it felt like it would grind through my ribs. The fire flared up in the center of my chest, sucking the last remnants of the flames from the rest of my body to fuel the most scorching blaze yet. The pain was enough to stun me. My back arched, and I let out the biggest curdling scream yet. It became a battle inside me- my sprinting heart racing against the attacking fire. Both were losing. The fire was doomed, having consumed everything that was combustible; my heart galloped towards its last beat.

_This is it._

I thought as the fire constricted, concentrating inside that one remaining human organ with a final, unbearable surge, the surge was answered by a deep, hollow-sounding thud. My heart stuttered twice, and then thudded quietly again just once more.

For a moment, the absence of pain was all I could comprehend.

_What now?_

And I look around me in wonder.

end of chapter 5


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